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      11-12-2018, 11:43 AM   #1
vzfox1
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2007 X5 E70 crank but no start

I feel like I have posted this before but I cant find it, forgive me if this goes a bit long...

I have the 3.0si X5 E70 with 115k miles. Last year around this same time I had the same issue when the temperature got cooler with the engine cranking but not starting. It turns over and cranks at a normal speed and the battery and key fob were both replaced last year. After taking the key in and out a few times and pressing the start button a few times it will finally start. Once started and running it drives just fine with no issues. When I had this issue last year, I took it to a shop and they kept it for a few days trying to recreate the problem but said it started quick and fine every time they tried with morning cold starts and afternoon warm starts so I brought the car home and shrugged it off as a fluke and only had the issue reoccur once after that. Now to problem is showing back up again.

I have Carly Pro and ran a diagnostic on all ECU's and it found zero faults. There are no errors or faults showing on the dash or iDrive either. Im not sure I want to rush back to the shop with it again for fear the problem doesnt occur with them and another waste of time, but I also do not want to get stuck out somewhere and it not start at all. It never shows any kind of issue while driving or idling, no stutters or loss of power

With all that taken into consideration, what components only operate during the starting procedure that could cause it to crank but not start?

Additional question off topic....replaced all my interior bulbs with led lights. All but 2 of them work fine, the 2 that dont seem to flicker rather the vehicle is running or not. Tried swapping led lights with other lights but issue stays with the light fixture (upper rear drivers side/back seat and front upper main dome light). Alternator is pushing 14.5-15v while idling/driving so they have plenty of volts. Thanx
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      11-12-2018, 01:19 PM   #2
TwinSnailz
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Try removing the ibs plug on the neg post of the battery next time it happens.

I don’t think it has to do with the key or else it would not turn on ignition to crank. Other things I would check is the crank angle sensor which works in conjunction with starting.
Engine grounding wire.
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      11-12-2018, 09:02 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TwinSnailz View Post
Try removing the ibs plug on the neg post of the battery next time it happens.

I don’t think it has to do with the key or else it would not turn on ignition to crank. Other things I would check is the crank angle sensor which works in conjunction with starting.
Engine grounding wire.
I watched a few videos on YouTube for the IBS sensor removal and it appears pretty simple and I will give that a try first. On the videos, they each remove the negative terminal and unplug the sensor...do I need to disconnect the negative cable or can I simply just unplug the sensor from the cable?
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      11-13-2018, 09:53 AM   #4
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Just simply unplug the harness. The video was on a sedan where the battery is on the side where he couldn’t access the harness release tab. On the X, you have ton of space.
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      11-15-2018, 01:48 PM   #5
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I just unplugged the sensor cable today on the negative batter cable and so far so good, cranks and starts fine but its only been one day. I dont drive it daily. If the IBS sensor is bad and I leave it unplugged, will it cause any problems or issues? I tried looking the sensor up online to see what the cost of replacement was just in case and nothing shows up under "IBS". Is it the battery current sensor?
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      11-15-2018, 05:17 PM   #6
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No problem with drivability but may drain battery because it controls when the car goes to sleep.
Its under neg cable part #12-42-7-603-567
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      11-16-2018, 09:50 AM   #7
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Thank you TwinSnailz for your replies and helpfulness. I ordered the Battery Current Sensor cable (negative battery cable) from rockauto today for $150 and will replace it when I get it in. I have also heard that it may have a parasitic draw that is causing the battery to lose voltage while parked. It makes sense that if the IBS is bad it wouldnt know or properly regulate battery voltage resulting in the vehicle believing it is unplugged, but since I cant find any way to properly test the IBS itself and since there are no error or fault codes present on a Carly diagnostic test I have to blindly replace the IBS cable and cross my fingers that it fixes the problem. After replacement of the negative cable, will I get a battery fault stating that I need to re register the battery as new?
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      11-16-2018, 11:36 AM   #8
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No fault for registering but you will get a fault for angle steering and 4x4 due to disconnecting the batt. Just do a full left turn , full right amd then center. Hope the ibs is the cure. We all dred electrical problems.
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      11-20-2018, 12:01 PM   #9
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Good and bad news, not much good news tbh...I received the negative battery cable part from RockAuto but when I went to install it I noticed the current sensor connections were incorrect for my vehicle. They sent the wrong part. I tried to fill out a return form online but it says the part is non returnable. Im not throwing away $153 thats for sure, so I submitted a claim thru my credit card company for a refund. We will see how that goes

Good news (if you call it that) is that when I put my original cable back on and re connected the current sensor, my X5 started right up with no issues. I suppose it may be possible that the current sensor is intermittently going bad causing the crank but no start issue but also means it could be a separate problem all together

I did notice yesterday when I had the original cable on and the sensor disconnected that my car would try to start but immediately stop. After a few presses of the start button it would finally idle and run fine. If it is trying to start but chokes out and dies, what else could be the problem?

EDIT: Once it starts and idles/runs, it drives fine and idles fine with no errors or faults showing.
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      11-20-2018, 12:53 PM   #10
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As I mentioned previously if it is trying to start, it could be the crank angle sensor or the cam angle sensor.
Electrical troubleshooting is no fun and costly. My X had a no start(not trying)and after weeks of buying parts and ripping my hair out, it turn out to be a crumble ground cable. There were no faults with my case also.

The new ground cable may require you to buy a new updated harness. I was reading somewhere that depending on the year you need the new harness.
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      11-21-2018, 09:08 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TwinSnailz View Post
As I mentioned previously if it is trying to start, it could be the crank angle sensor or the cam angle sensor.
Electrical troubleshooting is no fun and costly. My X had a no start(not trying)and after weeks of buying parts and ripping my hair out, it turn out to be a crumble ground cable. There were no faults with my case also.

The new ground cable may require you to buy a new updated harness. I was reading somewhere that depending on the year you need the new harness.
I havent had any success in finding where the engine ground strap is located on the X5 E70 3.0si. Do you have an idea so I can check it?
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      11-21-2018, 09:24 AM   #12
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Not sure on the 3.0 but mine(v8-s63) was right around the front differential. From looking at it, it looks ok but a blue/green color. After removing it, it just crumbled like potato chips.
Easy way to test is get a multimeter and place the positive terminal on the engine pos access terminal and the neg on one of the engine bolt. If the multimeter displays anything lower than 12 volt, then that is your problem. Mine showed 1-3volts.
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      12-10-2018, 01:31 PM   #13
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I touched vaguely on this but want to ask again...

If the engine grounding straps are bad, would it cause a no crank/turn over issue? Mine is cranking and turning over but just not starting. It takes multiple presses of the start button, each time cranking and turning over, before it actually starts and idles. But it has never had an issue that it doesnt crank or turn over. Hope that makes sense.
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      12-10-2018, 04:02 PM   #14
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Bad strap will cause no crank no turning engine.
If you search on youtube, theres a guy doing a fix on a bmw thats cranking but not starting or holding idle. Which leads to a bad crank or cam angle sensor, I couldn’t recall. Worth checking it out. GL.
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      12-13-2018, 03:49 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TwinSnailz View Post
Bad strap will cause no crank no turning engine.
If you search on youtube, theres a guy doing a fix on a bmw thats cranking but not starting or holding idle. Which leads to a bad crank or cam angle sensor, I couldn’t recall. Worth checking it out. GL.
I did see that video in a matter of fact, thanx for mentioning. I was thinking that grounding straps would cause a no crank situation but since mine is cranking fine I decided to look in other directions. Another question to ask is would the cam angle sensor only cause cold weather issues? As odd as it sounds, I am only having this hard to start issue when its colder weather out. Summer/Fall weather it starts like a new car every time. Another possible cause I heard was fuel related, colder weather causing a back flow siphon effect on the fuel lines and not letting enough fuel get to the rails upon cranking but runs fine after started.

The main only reason I'm digging deep into possible causes is I have already brought the vehicle to the shop last year winter time with the same exact issue and after 4 days of them keeping it, they checked everything they knew to check and found no problems and it cranked n started like a new car each time every day so I brought it home and didnt have the issue again until this winter. I dont want to bring it back to them with the same problem and not have a specific place and item for them to check.
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      12-13-2018, 05:01 PM   #16
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Modern fuel pump will kick fuel up instantly or 1-2 seconds at most if car has been sitting too long. I was going to say HPFP but yours is the natural aspirated engine.
For you to diy change the fuel pump and the angle sensor is cheaper than having a shop just to diagnose.
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      11-23-2021, 05:08 PM   #17
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I wonder if this was ever solved. I have a 2009 X5 3.0 xdrive and I have the same intermittent problem. This is what I have done, replaced the battery, replaced the crank angle sensor, air filter. The problem seems to get worst when it is cold outside. It is back in the shop and they said they would replace the fuel pressure regulator.
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